Etymologically
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exubero

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛkˈsuː.bɛ.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eɡˈzuː.be.ro][1]

Forms

exūberō (present infinitive exūberāre, perfect active exūberāvī, supine exūberātum); first conjugation[1] Also spelled exsubero and exhubero in manuscripts.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + ūberō, a compound of the verb made from ūber (“udder; abundant”).[3][1][2] De Vaan lists it under the noun, which goes back to Proto-Italic *ouþ-r- and Proto-Indo-European *h₁ouHdʰ-r (“udder”); the adjective ⟨ūber⟩ “abundant” is mostly explained as the noun used adjectivally, though Sihler posits an i-stem meaning “abundant”.[4]

The noun is cognate with Ancient Greek οὖθαρ (oûthar, “udder”), Sanskrit ऊधर् (ū́dhar, “udder”) and Old English ūder (“udder”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Accius,[4] who has sub eo saxo exuberans scatebra, a spring welling up under that rock.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense, of liquids, is to flow copiously or gush up: Virgil has a river foaming high, alte spumis exuberat amnis.[3][6][5] More generally it is to be abundant or fruitful: Virgil uses it of shade spreading with a luxuriance of leaves and of a year rich in fruit.[3][6][5] Tacitus says that eloquence wells up and overflows from much learning, Gellius uses it of a body grown immoderately, and Suetonius of profit.[6][5] Columella uses it transitively, to make abundant,[3][6] and Tertullian has it for outnumbering: the Scythians exceed the Persians.[6][5] The participle exuberans means superfluous in Quintilian.[6]

Ecclesiastical dictionaries give it as abound, make full.[7]

Timeline

  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of a gushing spring.[3][8]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a foaming river and of abundant fruit.[3][6][8]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it transitively, to make abundant.[3][8]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of overflowing eloquence.[6][8]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it in the sense “to outnumber”.[6][5][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (of liquids) To flow copiously, gush up, overflow.[3][5]
  2. To be abundant, abound; to be fruitful, grow luxuriantly.[3][6][7]
  3. (transitive) To make abundant.[3][6]
  4. (Late Latin, transitive) To exceed in number, outnumber.[6][5]

Word family

  • exūberantia
  • exuberatio

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de